After a few weeks off, we returned to bar trivia with the same result as last time: second place. We lost by two points to a guy playing on his own, and given the winning score it was pretty impressive. Anyway, your questions:

What rapper-turned-actor made his film debut in the 1994 movie Renaissance Man? Mark Wahlberg (Phil) - we had no idea, but settled on LL Cool J pretty quickly. Seemed like a good idea at the time, and really, how much of a rapper was Marky Mark?

What South American country is named for a tree or the people who collect its wood to make dye? Brazil (Paul) - we followed roughly the same logic, though I was fairly sure there was a brazilwood tree. Good thing there is, too, as the Brazil nut grown on a completely different tree. Take that, logic!

With the help of accountant Walter Diemer, what company was the first to produce bubble gum? Fleer (Myron) - Right on the company and the name. We couldn't come up with it, and guessed Wrigley's, even though we were pretty sure that wasn't right. We started talking about card companies pretty late, and I think if we'd taken that tack earlier we'd have come up with it (or at least come closer).

Whose debut album was 1999's On How Life Is?

What rock (more pop than rock, really) musician was the first Western performer to play in both Israel and the Soviet Union, doing so in 1979? Elton John (Sly) - We went with Paul McCartney, based on his Back in the USSR album and the musical clue of "Back in the USSR" by that first band he was in. Given how obvious some of the earlier musical clues were - "Mrs. Robinson" for a question about David Robinson and "I Ran" for a question about, yup, Iran, it wasn't that much of a stretch.

Of course, we also were thinking of a reasonably legitimate rock person, as per the question (the parenthetical comment is mine). Feathery capes and platform shoes are only really rock if they're on Ziggy Stardust.

This was actually much harder than the final question, naming the continent whose highest peak is Mount Kosciusco. They'd have been better off asking that one in reverse.